Your Company

The Border Reivers Half Marathon at RAF Spadeadam

A quick look around the gym made me think that this race MUST be in the Tynedale grand prix! After all, it was held on a Wed morning in a bizarre location and you even needed to show photo ID to get in. Just the sort of event that appeals to Ian Brown! The only thing that made me wonder was that the man himself was nowhere to be seen! Otherwise it was a veritable who’s who of the Tynedale talentless, has beens and never quite made its!! We were out in force – Hugh & Steph (that’s 2, teachers not talentless, keep up!), Eileen, Jane Saul, Christine & Dave, Louise, Bernard, lots of other s I know I’ve missed and me (that’s 3 or 2 depending on if you are counting teachers or Steph’s!).
Not really fancying a half marathon, especially after Christine’s course description ( ‘hilly’ then they tell you it’s downhill for the last 3 miles, but it’s not. I said to Dave after the 10 mile mark last year “that’s a hill!”), but as I’d used it as my excuse not to do the previous night’s track session, I thought I’d better get on with it. Well, either that or mark GCSE coursework!!
As soon as the race started, I realised that Christine’s description was not going to be far wrong. The first mile was definitely uphill, but at least it was on tarmac. In fact the first 3 miles are on a road within the RAF base and undulating would be a good description of them, but uphill is probably more accurate. The course is an anti-clockwise loop, with a few wiggles in it. There are mile markers along the way and the course is well marshalled and marked throughout.
As you turn off the road, the surface deteriorates into an uneven forest track which is at different times in the race gravelly, gritty, squelchy and quite rocky (this is at 11miles, not nice!). The main part of the race winds its way through wooded areasand vast open spaces with the occasional tank around the corner or explosion going off somewhere. Not an ordinary race for sure!
 At around 12 miles, you return to the tarmac (hooray!) and head back towards the buildings, through the starting line and finish next to the gym. I had to put a bit of an effort in on the road to overtake a lady who seemed to sprint past me at about 11 miles to regain my 3rd position. The course is definitely not a fast one, although I’d like to think that Barry would have been pleased with my effort in the last 1k or so!!
I’m not sure what time I did, but I think Hugh just sneaked under 1.30 for a place inside the top 10. The course probably adds about 5 mins to your half marathon time I’d estimate (Hugh might want to agree/disagree). The first lady did 1.33 and she is a 1.27/1.28 road half marathoner.
Steph Bingham was awarded the trophy for 1st lady veteran. Well done!
We all enjoyed soup, sandwiches and buns after the race. Well, all of us except Louise, who fell over half way round the race and had to be helped home by a dashingly handsome man in a uniform!!
Steph

Dumfries Half Marathon - 25th September

The 30th Dumfries Half Marathon took place on Sunday 25th September and six Tynedale Harriers travelled west to make up the 250 strong field.

Starting in the grounds of the Crichton Campus, the route heads along the Bankend Road for the first 5 miles. This was, unfortunately, directly into a strong headwind. Despite this, the times returned by the Tyndale contingent were all very respectable.

Pip Griffiths had already run 16 miles a few days before the event as part of her training for the Kielder Marathon. Even so, she still finished very stongly in just under 2 hours 07 minutes. Mark Smith enjoyed his run and was pleased to finish in 1 hour 51 minutes 51 seconds, about 2 minutes behind Louise Griffin. Louise had eased off her training over the summer so was very pleased with her time of 1 hour 50 minutes 09 seconds.

The best run of the day for Tynedale was recorded by Peter Hearn who completed the distance in 1 hour 23 minutes 41 seconds. This was slower than Peter had recorded the previous week at the GNR (1:21:04) but still an excellent time considering the conditions.Peter was 13th overall and first in his V45 age category.

Ian Brown was second for the Club (and second MV55 overall) in a time of 1 hour 28 minutes 33 seconds. Ian was very satisfied with his time but found his return to the roads very tough! Chris Francis was also pleased with his time of 1 hour 44 minutes 47 seconds.This was a five minutes faster than his time recorded at the Wallington Half Marathon in March this year.

This is a good, well organised event and well worth
 the drive across to the south west of Scotland.

  Photograph - Pip's sprint to the finish

NORTH EAST VETERANS 5Km

The ladies from Tynedale Harriers continued their medal winning form at the North East veterans 5k road race championships last Wednesday night. The 2 lap course of Watergate Park, Low Fell was slightly undulating and uneven underfoot. Luckily the weather was kind and the relentless rain abated for the event. The veteran’s championship was part of an open 5k and Steph Scott was pleased to finish in 4th place overall in the ladies race. Her time of 20.19 was good enough to secure the gold medal in the over 40 category. Lynne Marr completed the 5k in 25.30, resulting in yet another gold medal for the Tynedale v50.
The Tynedale veteran ladies will be hoping to add yet another medal to their tally this Sunday in the club’s Jelly Tea 10 mile road race which incorporates the British Masters Championships.

VAANEE Relays Wednesday 10th August

Tynedale Harriers were the only club in the North East to field two ladies’ teams in the regional veterans road relay championships held last Wednesday evening on the Links at Whitley Bay. Fortunately the recent heavy rain stopped for the race which was held in near perfect conditions along the sea front paths. This was the inaugural veterans relay championships and the Tynedale ladies continued their recent good form with excellent performances across the age groups.
 In the younger (age 35 to 44 years) age group, Tynedale were led off on the first of the 2k (approx.) laps by Louise Griffin. On a competitive first leg, Louise ran strongly handing over in a good position to Kim Bluck on leg 2. In her first ever relay, Kim ran superbly covering the course in 8.43 and bringing the team up into 4th position. The Darlington ladies were well clear in the gold medal position after a fast start and never looked like getting caught. Tynedale were in with a chance of a medal. Steph Scott (8.17) ran the fastest age 40 + lap of the night to secure the bronze medal for Tynedale.
In the older age group, Tynedale fielded an experienced team. Jan Oliver, perhaps more noted as a superb triathlete, led off in fine style. Running with the younger ladies and some mens teams, Jan kept the team in contention and handed over to Lynne Marr on leg 2. Perhaps the most experienced athlete in the race, Lynne ran with her usual strength and determination, completing the course in exactly the same time as Jan (10.07). Steph White, returning from injury, sped round her lap in 8.57, bringing the team home victorious as gold medal winners and North East champions.

Steph Scott

Allendale 8 4th June 2011

The Allendale 8 took place on June 3rd and, miss the sun though we might, conditions were far better for running than they had been last year! The Harriers’ men were out in reasonable force and there were some very good performances. First home for Tynedale and second overall was Richard Parker in 45 mins 37. He was nip and tuck with the eventual winner, Patrick Duffy from Crook and District (45:29), throughout the race and said afterwards that he got his tactics wrong and perhaps could have won had he known the route better. Second in for Tynedale and 9th overall in 48:38 was Ronnie Coupland, whose new strategy of finishing races seems to be paying off (this is apparently 5 in a row!). Nick Speed and Ian Bromley were next home, in 14th and 15th places respectively, closely followed by Ivan Newton in 17th who produced an impressive sprint up the hill to overtake a rather disconcerted Elswick Harrier! Ian Brown was next to finish, in 21st place, followed by Hugh Bingham in 28th. Seven finishers in the top 30 is a pretty good performance, but that wasn’t all. Dave Hunter, John Davidson, Christine Hunter and Eileen Armstrong made up the rest of the Tynedale Harriers cohort, everyone finishing with a smile! By my calculations (not always the most reliable ones in our house of course!) Christine Hunter was 3rd woman in her age category (50-59), and Eileen Armstrong was first in hers (women over 60, but it’s worth pointing out that she’s over 70, not that you’d know it).
It’s a shame there weren’t more Tynedale women there to match the men’s turnout, but there’s always next year and it’s an event to be recommended. It’s not an easy run, but it’s lovely whatever the weather, the fair is there to occupy the family whilst you earn your candy floss (!), and then there’s a karaoke competition to round things off! Put it in your diary for next year.

Steph Bingham

Edinburgh Marathon 22nd May 2011

The Edinburgh Marathon is one of seven events which make up the Edinburgh Marathon Festival (EMF). The events take place over the festival weekend and include a Fun Run, a 5Km and 10Km on Saturday, a half marathon early on Sunday morning followed by the full marathon which also includes a relay team option.

Four Tynedale Harriers played their part in the marathon event this year, two as individual runners and two taking part in relay teams.

As usual, the weather had a major bearing on the times. This year, it was the high winds which had to be contended with rather than the heat which so affected the runners in 2010.

In his first full marathon, Peter Hearn had an excellent run and achieved his objective of completing the distance in under 3 hours.

Due to the ‘out and back’ nature of the course, Peter made the decision to start fast and build a cushion over the first half. This strategy is somewhat risky as it increases fatigue over the last few miles while running into the headwind! Nevertheless, Peter hit his time targets throughout clocking 1 hour 25 minutes at the halfway point and 2 hours 12 minutes for 20 miles. Understandably the last 6 miles were extremely tough and, with a number of runners stopping and dropping out, Peter did well to keep going and finish in 2 hours 59 minutes 42 seconds.

Ian Brown also completed the event, clocking 3 hours 3 minutes. Ian had no real expectations of a fast time as he had recently completed the 53 mile Highland Fling. Despite his lack of road training (and tired legs), he still managed to maintain a good pace throughout and was delighted with his time.
Both individual runners were well placed in the field with Peter finishing in 158th place and Ian in 195th place from a field of around 10,000 finishers.

Joanne Lee and Balazs were running for Balazs’ workplace running club teams. Balazs had managed to raise 5 teams (20 runners) from work (not bad for a company with 70 odd staff!) but unfortunately due to some injuries etc had to recruit a ringer (Joanne). Balazs was of course selected for the fastest 'all work' team which finished in 2 hours 55 minutes - 5th place in the relay overall. While Balazs was pleased with this, the team didn't win the corporate category but came a very credible second.
The EMF organisers like to promote the marathon as the fastest in the UK due to 40 metre ‘fall’ over the route. While this might be true, it would need some better weather conditions than experienced over the last two years to actually realise the benefit of this!